


Slowpoke yawns, but does it rain?

by Laplace_Aura



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Alola-chihou | Alola Region (Pokemon), College, Gen, Holon-chihou | Holon Region (Pokemon), In-universe scientific studies, Jouto-chihou | Johto Region (Pokemon), Original Pokemon Region, Pokemon, Pokemon References, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:15:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24382675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laplace_Aura/pseuds/Laplace_Aura
Summary: A recent study coming out from Hau’oli Regional University examines a phenomenon often talked about, but rarely witnessed: the ability of a slowpoke to cause rainfall. This unassuming pokemon is found ranging from Johto to Sinnoh, Teuton to Galar, and Alola too. Beyond variants the most well-known slowpoke colony would be the eponymous Slowpoke Well, which sits a very short trip east of Azalea Town in the middle-south of the Johto Region.This fic was an entry to the 'Myths and Legends' contest on the Thousand Roads forums.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	Slowpoke yawns, but does it rain?

A recent study coming out from Hau’oli Regional University examines a phenomenon often talked about, but rarely witnessed: the ability of a slowpoke to cause rainfall. This unassuming pokemon is found ranging from Johto to Sinnoh, Teuton to Galar, and Alola too. Beyond variants the most well-known slowpoke colony would be the eponymous Slowpoke Well, which sits a very short trip east of Azalea Town in the middle-south of the Johto Region. 

The same rumored ability also traces it’s origins largely to the written and oral history regarding the same population that brought rain so heavily it ended a drought roughly 400 years ago. Rain in the local area is a frequent occurrence and as one grad student noticed, the bulk of videos online recording a slowpoke’s yawn often are followed up by a rain shower. This, Rida says, is what sparked the study.

Grad Student Rida was available to tell the story in their own words.

“When I was a kid there was this show that ran forever where they would test a rumor about various thing, and sometimes it was an old tale people tell about a pokemon species or two.” Grad Student Rida explained on voice-chat in a brief interview, “With the newest wave of social media people are able to document the lives and habits of pokemon around them in a way unlike anything before.” 

“Some of those videos are about slowpoke, and specifically about the old yawn tale. Someone would go out to where wild slowpoke are, or their own pet, and record them yawning before checking the forecast with a joke about how they’re not seeing any rain yet. People posted those videos and others to the hashtag for the show and for a while it caught on, debating whether it’s the rainless slowpokes that are fake, or if the same mass of videos around Azalea Town are being faked… or if there’s something else going on.”

They continue to explain that located on Ula’ula Island’s Route 16 is a local colony of slowpoke, and on the other side of the island is Maile City, which frequently experiences torrential rainfall in a way similar to Azalea Town. At first it looks like a coincidence, but after checking with the meteorology department they find that there are two ways rainfall could come from the opposite side of the island. Circling north or cutting right between the mountains leads to the city, and it’s often that offshore clouds get strung along.

What that meant was enough grounds for a field study, and the results are eye-opening.

“We found that some incidents of a slowpoke’s yawn did precede a change in cloud movement offshore along with a rainfall following a series of pathways we charted out. The incidents are spread out and have no connection to the move yawn, but instead that the yawn is like a release valve for a bigger system going on. It acts more like the move raindance in action.”  
What Rida’s study found was that slowpoke experience a buildup of psychic energy over time similar to a psyduck, and this results in a burst where it’s fired off. The difference between the two water-type pokemon is that a psyduck’s explosive activity is individual, and a slowpoke’s happens on a wider scale.

“See, the colony shares a series of connections, like a social network in a sense. Psychic energy flows between the individual slowpoke, allowing them greater power on an individual level when it’s needed, say for a battle. It’s why you see wild slowpoke able to take part in a battle rather than having the response time you see in a Slaking. The issue is that if the energy isn’t needed… where does it go?”

Which is what led Rida’s team to the theoretical mechanic through which a slowpoke would cause it to rain. The yawn. After that it was only a short while until the team was cleared for a grant, and a field study in Johto was conducted, where Slowpoke Well is believed to host the largest colony worldwide.

“With higher numbers you get more energy flowing, and more frequent overflows. That means more bursts, which means more rain-causing yawns.”

Rida’s team managed to see the same effect, but magnified. By the time the study was over the team had collected three times the data they had managed to find back home. While it had been the end of data collection for this paper it wasn’t the end for this legend. 

“As the paper was circulating for peer review I got to watch it start conversations I wasn’t expecting. Is this phenomena present in the Sinnoh populations, or Kalos even? What about the Galarian Variant, and the other ones entering the world-dex? By publishing time we even had not just the Cedar Labs approval, but Professor Cedar III and IV had signed off on it.”

At the present Rida is finishing their graduate’s program and is entertaining offers from both universities in the Casca, Galar, and Holon Regions when it comes to a potential doctorate. They say they have their hopes that this will bring slowpoke back into the limelight once more, and that with further studies the phenomena will be less treated as fact or fiction, and more that myths carried down in history have a blend of both.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was my entrance to the ['Myths and Legends'](https://forums.thousandroads.net/index.php?threads/myths-and-legends-one-shot-contest-results.352/) contest on the Thousand Road Forums.
> 
> Here is some info on various parts of the fic.  
> The Teuton Region - Germany, and a loose fan-region concept.  
> The Casca Region - Oregon and Washington area of the United States (Pacific Northwest). One of my fan-region


End file.
